High Peak scouts selected for 2023 World Jamboree to launch fundraising campaign at Buxton Spring Fair

Natalie Morton, Casper Wood, George Garratt, Rob Wilson and Peter Wilson will be among 3,240 young people from the UK, and 50,000 from almost every nation on earth, travelling to the coastal region of Saemangeum in August 2023 for the largest scout camp to be held since the start of the pandemic.

The jamboree is a festival of cultural exchange and adventure held in a different location every four years, and offers young people the chance to learn new life skills and campaign for change on global issues.

Buxton Community School student Peter, 13, from 1st Buxton scouts, said: “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, and everyone who’s ever been says it really helps with new skills, so it felt like a good idea to give it a go.”

Brother Rob, 15, who attends Hope Valley College and the Solomons explorer group, said: “For me its about making friends with people from around the world, learning to communicate, and hopefully keeping those friends for life.”

Natalie, 15, also from BCS and Solomons, said: “It’s a great opportunity to have a cool experience, meet people and learn. When we come back we’ll be sharing our experience with other young people and maybe inspiring them to try similar things.”

Together with Casper and George, both from Taxal, they passed a rigorous selection process where they had to demonstrate communication skills, resilience, a positive attitude and teamwork.

Their success rewards years of effort and commitment to the scouting movement, which some joined as beavers as young as six.

Rob said: “It felt brilliant to hear we’d been selected, especially for Pete and I. They didn’t know we were brothers on the selection day.”

Now the hard work really begins, as they must each raise £3,500 over the next 18 months to cover the costs of attending the event.

They describe the task as “daunting”, particularly at a time when households and businesses may be struggling, but will work together to raise every penny.

They got the ball rolling with a donation of around £800 from the High Peak Mayoral Charity, to be presented at a ceremony on Thursday, April 28, and they are currently

writing to local employers in the hope some may be generous enough to offer sponsorship.

On Monday, May 2, they will embark on their first fundraising event at the fair, with a stall selling cakes made by Rob and Peter, jewellery made by Natalie, and tomato plants grown by her mum Nichola.

They will also launch an attempt to pedal 5,500 miles – the distance from Buxton to South Korea – on a static exercise bike.

Natalie said: “It will be a joint effort, doing 1,100 miles each. We won’t get there in the day so it will be an ongoing thing.”

Rob added: “We all do a little bit of cycling, but we’ve not done any training, so it will definitely be a challenge.”

Anyone interested in supporting them can donate via https://wonderful.org/fundraisers/573 or write to [email protected] for more details.

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